Feature of April / 四月精選故事

給我想念的海洋

這個故事的靈感來自於2002年的限水措施，當時我剛學會游泳，每天下班之後立刻往游泳池報到，想到天公不下雨，而我必須暫停游泳，內心便湧上一陣恐懼。因為擔心，我決定把對游泳的喜愛畫下來。

莉莉從小住在海邊，但是她不會游泳，因為小時候曾經溺水過，她對海水又愛又怕。有一天，她在海岸邊遇到雷根，他在水中就像條自在的魚，莉莉央求雷根教她游泳，雷根傳授許多簡單卻深奧的秘訣，例如說，水其實反映人們內心的情緒，當我們放輕鬆，水也會輕柔地回應；如果我們太緊張，水便以同等力道對待。莉莉終於學會游泳，可是多日不雨，海水因而乾枯，莉莉和雷根想盡各種辦法，最後還是不敵大自然，雖然莉莉很傷心，她自我安慰，一方面回想著游泳的日子，並期待下雨天趕快到來。

For the Ocean I Miss

The inspiration for this story originated from the water rationing program in Taipei in 2002. I had just learned to swim. Every day after work, I rushed to the swimming pool to enjoy the best moments of a day. I couldn’t imagine how dull life would be without my favorite sport. Waiting for the rain, I decided to turn my worry into a short illustrated story.

Callie lives by the sea, but she doesn’t know how to swim. When she was a child, she was drowned once. From then on, she has been afraid of water though she loves it greatly. One day, she encounters the swimmer Reagan. She envies him a lot because he seems to be so much at ease in water! Callie asks Reagan to be her swimming coach. He partakes with her some very basic yet important tips. For example, water actually reflects how we feel. When we are relaxed, water treats us gently. When we are all tensed up, water does nothing but react in the same way. Callie finally becomes a swimmer. However, because of the coming drought, the sea level goes lower and lower. Reagan and Callie try all they can to ask for rain, but they can’t fight against nature. Callie learns to live with the reality. She will wait for the rain with hope and think back on the good moments she had in water when she feels down.